Urzakar
The Dominion of Flame and Faith
The Sacred Shrine
Urzakar’s most sacred site sits atop a natural gas fissure, where an eternal flame rises toward the heavens.
It is said the fire speaks
That it accepts sacrifices, and sometimes answers prayers in smoke
All festivals and executions are performed here, beneath the endless burn
No foreign power has ever stepped inside the sanctum—those who try vanish, or return blinded
The fire is not a symbol.
It is a god made visible
Shrine of the Flame Beneath
The Sacred Ascent to the Shrine of the Flame Beneath marks the passage from youth to adulthood in Urzakar. At the appointed age, each child makes the journey—barefoot and silent—through the ash paths of the outer city, to gaze upon the great fire for the first time. The flame, tallest in all Serathorne, rises above the temple’s ringed walls like a god’s eye watching the world. It is never extinguished, its height and hunger regulated by etched runes of binding and breath, carved by the oldest of the Flamebound clergy. No one returns unchanged. Some weep. Some vow. All remember.
Cities & Strongholds
Urzakar (Capital) – Built in concentric rings of obsidian and ashstone
Vharrek – Known for its smoke-brewed glass and funeral oil markets
Mor’Khaleth – Flame-forges and scriptoriums
Zharrekh – Ash-crypt city, where the dead are burned and named in flame
Government & Class
Form: Theocratic Nobility
True Power: The Flamebound Clergy
Noble Status: Maintained through annual sacrifice
Caste Structure:
High Nobles: Those descended from the first Miradorn exiles
Flamebound: Clergy of Velkaara and Nhar’zul
Commoners: Tradesfolk, ash tenders, faithful servants
Ash-Forged: Criminals, heretics, or war-captives repurposed for labor or sacrifice
Origins of Ash and Exile
The people of Urzakar were once banished from Miradorn, driven into Velkar’s Maw, a storm-choked gorge believed cursed. Many died in that first generation. But they survived—barely—and bartered with the dwarves for stonecraft, shelter, and sovereignty.
What they built was not a kingdom. It was a shrine.
And the flame has never gone out.
Faithbound Society
Urzakar is ruled not by kings, but by the will of the Flame.
While noble bloodlines remain intact, true power flows through the Flamebound Clergy—priests and seers in service to Velkaara, Goddess of Hell, and Nhar’zul, Warden of Ash. The gods do not remain distant in Urzakar; their presence is constant, hungry, and unquestioned.
Nobility is conditional—maintained only through annual offerings of blood, wealth, or kin to the flame
Commoners live lives of obedience, rarely rising unless chosen by clergy
The Ash-Forged—those branded for crimes or heresy—are consigned to fire-hauling, ashwork, and ritual service. Many do not live long.
To walk in Urzakar is to breathe reverence and speak in fear.
And in The Darkness
Beyond the reach of temple bells and the eyes of the Folded Flame, there are those who serve Velkaara and Nhar’zul with a darker zeal. These are the Veilmarked—fanatics and flame-seers who gather in the deep ashwoods to perform rites unspoken in the temple halls. By moonlight and ember, they offer blood to the soil, chant in the old tongue, and burn tokens carved with forbidden sigils. It is said they seek visions not granted by the sanctioned clergy—whispers from the gods’ truer, crueler faces. The Flamebound deny their existence. But in the forests, the trees are scorched in circles, and the air smells of burnt bone.